ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] The Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team continued to hold the top spot in the South conference, as MBU defeated opponent Lindenwood University – Belleville 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-13) in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex on Thursday.
The Lynx matched the Spartans point for point as the game began. After MBU gained a two point lead, the Spartans held the slight advantage over Lindenwood – Belleville. Mico Janicijevic lead the Spartans from the service line for a five point run to give Missouri Baptist a six point lead.
With a run of three attacking errors, the Spartans hit a rough patch as the Lynx tried to creep their way back into the game. Shane Welch stopped the bleeding with a kill to shift the momentum back in favor of Missouri Baptist. MBU then pushed to close the set for a final score 25 to 18.
The Spartans took a quick lead in set two. Big at the service line again, was Janicijevic with three service aces in a row. After 42 rallies in the set Missouri Baptist was up 2-0 with a 25-17 set two win.
In set three, the Lynx came back with a new fire to keep the game close until Kyle Foley stepped up to the service line. Through two timeouts MBU kept Foley at the line for a nine point run. With match point just on the horizon, the Spartans had found their rhythm again and closed out the set for a final score of 25-13. Missouri Baptist held Lindenwood – Belleville to an attack percentage of -0.095 only allowing five kills in the third set.
The outside hitting duo of Chris Flood and Mico Janicijevic led the Spartans in different ways with 15 points apiece. Flood recorded 14 kills from the pins and Janicijevic matched his career high from the service line, with 6 service aces on the night.
Shane Welch also came-up big for the Spartans at the net. Welch posted a hitting percentage of 0.167 with 6 kills and 12 total attempts. The 6-10 middle blocker also posted four total blocks on the night as well as contributing two digs.
The Spartans will take a break from conference play and close out the week in Marshall, Mo. at the Missouri Valley Viking Invitational on Friday and Saturday. MBU is set to face No. 9-ranked Robert Morris and Saint Xavier on day one and on day two No. 2-ranked Clarke University and Cincinnati Christian.
